The struggles of Volquez, Richard

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Edinson Volquez works against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning in an interleague baseball game Sunday, June 2, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
— AP

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Edinson Volquez works against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning in an interleague baseball game Sunday, June 2, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
/ AP

DENVER  Friday night’s outing at Coors Field was not only Edinson Volquez’s worst outing of the season, it was the worst outing of his career.

The nine runs and 11 hits given up by Volquez in 2 1/3 innings were career worsts. In fact, he had allowed eight runs in a game only one previously in his career on Sept. 4, 2005, during his first days in the major leagues.

However, the outing was just the latest in a string of poor outings by Volquez and Clayton Richard – the Padres’ two most dependable starters of 2012.

“It’s puzzling,” Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley said of the simultaneous struggles of Volquez and Richard.

“The track record shows both are major league pitchers,” Balsley continued. “They’re the type of pitchers that keep you in games. Right now, it’s hit or miss . . . more miss.

“Pitchers have down years, but this is not what we expected to see. We have to change it.”

But thus far, nothing has gotten the pair to jell.

Last season, Richard was 14-14 with a 3.99 earned run average in 33 starts. Volquez was 11-11 with a 4.14 ERA in 32 starts. Between them, Richard and Volquez logged 401 1/3 innings with a 4.06 ERA. They averaged almost 6 1/3 innings a start.

This season the pair is a combined 5-10 with a 7.06 ERA and are averaging five innings in 21 combined starts. The Padres are 5-16 in games started by Volquez and Richard compared to 21-12 in games started by Jason Marquis (8-4), Andrew Cashner (6-3) and Eric Stults (7-5).

Volquez is 4-5 with a 6.33 ERA in 13 starts and the Padres are 4-9 in games he has started. Richard is 0-5 with an 8.83 ERA in his eight starts and the Padres are 1-7 in those starts.

Balsley on Volquez: “It’s in there somewhere. We’ve seen flashes, but not enough. Volkie’s biggest problem has been two-out hits. One at-bat has been crucial to a lot of his bad outings. He has to start making clutch pitches.”

Balsley on Richard: “It’s been a blend of his sickness and not getting on track. We saw his velocity at 92-93 in his last start when it was in the high 80s earlier. Clayton needs one really good outing to prove he’s fine. I keep expecting to see it.”

Balsley has also been working with Richard on using his off-speed pitches more and in different situations. Padres manager Bud Black called it “a change in sequencing.”

Burch Smith returns

Needing to add length to their depleted bullpen, the Padres recalled right-hander Burch Smith from Triple-A Tucson Saturday morning and sent right-hander Brad Boxberger to the T-Padres.

Boxberger’s problem was that he wasn’t available after pitching well the previous two nights.

This marks the third time this season that the Padres have optioned a reliever who pitched well the previous night because they needed a fresh arm in the bullpen.

On May 11, Boxberger was returned to Tucson a day after retiring four straight hitters in Tampa Bay. Nick Vincent was returned to Tucson June 1 a day after he worked three scoreless innings in the 17-inning win over Toronto. This time Boxberger had worked two scoreless innings Friday night after picking up his first major league save on Thursday.